This invention relates generally to packages and packaging systems. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus and methods for packaging and distributing combinations of complementary items as single, palletizable products.
It is well known that consumers frequently associate certain complementary items with one another, and that consumers frequently use such complementary items in combination. For example, a consumer might be inclined to eat peanuts when drinking beer, or to replace his oil filter when he changes his oil. To capitalize on this, packagers and distributors of such complementary items have attempted to increase sales of both items by tying sales of certain items to sales of other items that are often associated with them. For example, a seller of popcorn might offer a popcorn purchaser a xe2x80x9ccents-ofxe2x80x9d coupon that can be redeemed with the purchase of a case of soda, or a seller of oil filters might offer an oil filter coupon to the purchaser of a case of motor oil.
Although this approach provides the purchaser with an incentive to purchase both items, such an approach requires the purchaser to actually locate and retrieve both items. The extra effort required to locate the additional item, and then carry it or place it into a shopping cart, for example, can often be just enough to discourage the purchaser from making the additional purchase. Even if the complementary items are placed in reasonable proximity to each other, the consumer can still be dissuaded from buying both items simply because the consumer has to pick up and carry more than one item.
Occasionally, industries such as the beverage and cereal industries offer additional incentives to the purchaser in the form of promotional items (a.k.a. xe2x80x9cpremiumsxe2x80x9d). Such promotional items are typically free items that the seller gives to the buyer in exchange for the purchase of the beverage or cereal product. Examples of such promotional items can include toys, tee shirts, videos, and the like. Frequently, the premiums are offered in separate packages, making it difficult or undesirable for the purchaser to carry both the base item (e.g., the beverage or cereal product) and the premium. The premium could be shrink-wrapped, for example, or otherwise attached to the base item, but this approach results in an end-product that is difficult to mass-produce, palletize, store, transport, market, and display in large quantities because of its generally odd overall shape. That is, it is difficult to stack a large number of such packages because gaps between adjacent packages cause instability in the stack.
It would be advantageous, therefore, to manufacturers, distributors, and merchandisers of such complementary items if apparatus and methods were available that entice the consumer to purchase combinations of complementary items, without requiring the consumer to select and carry separate items. Thus, there is a need in the art for apparatus and methods for packaging and distributing combinations of complementary items as single products that can be efficiently palletized, transported, and displayed using existing transportation and merchandizing channels.
The invention satisfies these needs in the art by providing apparatus and methods for packaging and distributing combinations of complementary items as single, palletizable products. A combined package according to the invention includes a first container containing a first item and a second container containing a second item that complements the first item. A packaging material at least partially surrounds both the first and second containers, thus holding the first and second containers in mutual abutment. The containers can be shaped and positioned relative to one another such that the combined package has an overall shape that is generally rectanguloidal and suitable for palletization.
In general, a package according to the invention can contain any two or more complementary items. That is, the item in container 14 serves as an inducement to the consumer to purchase the item in container 12, and vice versa.
A packaging material, which can be a transparent, polymeric, packaging material, such as shrink-wrap material or a band, at least partially surrounds both complementary containers, thus holding the complementary containers in mutual abutment. The combined package can also include an adhesive between the containers that holds a face of the first container and a face of the second container in mutual abutment. To increase package strength and to facilitate palletizing the combined packages, the surface areas of the faces can be approximately the same, and the combined package can have an overall shape that is generally rectanguloidal.
Apparatus according to the invention for manufacturing a combined package can include a conveyance system, and a packaging material applicator, such as a band applicator or shrink-wrap applicator. The conveyance system transports the complementary containers while they are positioned adjacent to one another. The applicator at least partially surrounds both of the complementary containers with a packaging material that holds them in mutual abutment by applying the packaging material to both of the containers while they are positioned adjacent to one another. The applicator can include a heat source that shrinks the packaging material or fuses loose ends of the band material together to hold the complementary containers in mutual abutment.
The apparatus can also include a first conveyor that transports the first container and provides the first container to the conveyance system, and a second conveyor that transports the second container and provides the second container to the conveyance system. The first conveyor and the second conveyor meet at a junction adapted to position the complementary containers adjacent to one another. An adhesive sprayer can be used to apply an adhesive to at least one of the complementary containers to hold the containers in mutual abutment.